BusinessWire
November 30, 2005 11:00 AM US Pacific Timezone

Avnet Electronics Marketing Launches New Speedway Workshop Series Focusing on Analog Devices' Blackfin Processor and Signal Chain Solutions

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 30, 2005--Design engineers, system architects and engineering managers interested in optimizing the processing and signal chain solutions of Analog Devices can get practical hands-on experience by attending one of Avnet Electronics Marketing's new SpeedWay Design Workshops(TM). Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, an operating group of Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT), will offer this workshop series across North America starting in January 2006.

Avnet is offering two separate workshops that include hands-on labs to assist customers in optimizing Analog Devices solutions. Avnet's factory-trained FAEs have developed the materials for the workshops with support from Analog Devices' applications engineers. These workshops offer practical lessons that can be applied immediately by designers to their current projects.

Customers can register starting in early December for the workshops, which will begin in January of 2006. These workshops are being offered free of charge to qualified registrants and participants can sign up for one or both workshops. Attendees will also be able to purchase tool kit bundles at a special discount.

To register for these workshops and for complete details, visit www.em.avnet.com/processorspeedway and www.em.avnet.com/signalchainspeedway.

Digital Signal Processing

The full-day processing workshop is designed to familiarize engineers with the Blackfin ADSP-BF536, software development tools, free TCP/IP stack and royalty free kernel. The workshop will highlight the Blackfin's architecture and focus on using the processor in general purpose applications typically associated with a more traditional embedded CPU. The labs will provide a starting point for engineers looking to evaluate or accelerate their development by using the VisualDSP++ tool suite and EZ-LITE hardware.

The Processing agenda and lab selection is as follows:

-- Blackfin Family Introduction

-- Blackfin Core Overview

-- Instruction Set Overview

-- Blackfin ADSP-BF536 Processor Details

-- Introduction to VisualDSP++

-- Introduction to VDK

-- Introduction to LwIP

-- Hands-on labs.

Signal Chain

This full-day analog SpeedWay Workshop for Analog Devices will focus on two analog converter signal chains -- one precision and one high speed. The presentation will discuss and feature critical design issues for both application types and incorporate a demo and hands-on lab. Precision ADC and DAC signal chains will also be discussed and will highlight the following products:

-- AD9248 - 14-Bit, 20 MSPS/40 MSPS/65 MSPS Dual A/D Converter

-- AD7793 - 3-Channel, Low Noise, Low Power, 16/24-Bit Sigma-Delta A/D with On-Chip Instrumentation-Amplifier and Reference

The Signal Chain workshop agenda will include:

-- Data Converter Concepts

-- A/D and D/A Architectures

-- Lab - ADIsimADC(TM)

-- Power Supply Considerations

-- Voltage Reference and Clocking

-- PC Board Layout Considerations

-- High Speed A/D Considerations

-- Precision A/D Considerations

-- Hands-on Lab - Precision A/D

-- DAC Overview

Complimentary Topics:

-- Power Supply Considerations

-- Voltage Reference and Clocking

-- PC Board Layout Considerations

"Avnet is pleased to offer these SpeedWay Workshops to assist customers in adopting Analog Devices' processing and signal chain solutions in areas they may not have previously considered," said Ed Smith, senior vice president of sales for Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas. "This is the only workshop series of its kind and attendees will benefit from the practical knowledge, which will in turn speed up their time to market and lower their overall cost of development."

"Avnet SpeedWay Design Workshops(TM) deliver a best-in-class learning experience for designers looking to gain a deeper understanding of the unique capabilities of the Analog Devices' Blackfin technology," said Kevin Greene, vice president of North American sales for Analog Devices. "High-Speed and High-Precision signal chains are a critical element in many of today's emerging applications, especially in medical, industrial, and instrumentation applications. Additionally, many designers are seeing the benefits of using the Blackfin processor in a wide array of microcontroller-based applications. Analog Devices is thrilled to partner with Avnet to offer customers these hands-on workshops."

About Analog Devices

Innovation, performance, and excellence are the cultural pillars on which Analog Devices has built one of the longest standing, highest growth companies within the technology sector. Acknowledged industrywide as the world leader in data conversion and signal conditioning technology, Analog Devices serves more than 60,000 customers, representing virtually all types of electronic equipment. Celebrating 40 years as a leading global manufacturer of high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications, Analog Devices is headquartered in Norwood, Mass., with design and manufacturing facilities throughout the world. Analog Devices' common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "ADI" and is included in the S&P 500 Index. www.analog.com

About Avnet Electronics Marketing

Avnet Electronics Marketing is the largest operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT), a Fortune 500 company. Avnet Electronics Marketing serves electronic original equipment manufacturers (EOEMs) and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers in 68 countries, distributing electronic components from leading manufacturers and providing associated design-chain and supply-chain services. The group's Web site is located at http://www.em.avnet.com.

Avnet enables success from the center of the technology industry, providing cost-effective services and solutions vital to a broad base of more than 100,000 customers and 300 suppliers. The company markets, distributes and adds value to a wide variety of electronic components, enterprise computer products and embedded subsystems. Through its premier market position, Avnet brings a breadth and depth of capabilities that help its trading partners accelerate growth and realize cost efficiencies. For the fiscal year ended July 2, 2005, Avnet and the recently acquired Memec (closed July 5, 2005) generated combined revenue in excess of $13 billion in the past year through sales in 70 countries. Visit http://www.avnet.com.